Warsash Victory Hall Pre-school

All prospective parents have the opportunity to discuss any queries or concerns with manager or SENCO (special educational needs co-ordinator) and/or the behaviour co-ordinator (BENCO). We ensure that we speak to you to determine whether you have any concerns regarding your child’s development. As part of our induction process, each child receives an “All about me” form which focuses on their interests, home life, language, strengths and areas of developments. This helps us develop a ‘picture’ of your child and their needs. As a pre-school we work in partnership with parents and other professionals to meet individual children’s needs. All children are allocated a key person. The key person ‘s role is to get to know you and your child. To ensure they are happy and settled within the pre-school and plan and monitor your child’s developmental progress through observations. They will regularly share and discuss progress and discuss appropriate next steps, with you. All children are monitored and observed in line with Early years foundation stage. A 2 year old development check is carried out and shared with you and any concerns regarding development would be discussed.

Our pre-school’s SENCO will plan and oversee all support needed for any child needing extra support. Your child’s key person will work with your child to ensure that progress is being made and following an individual education plan (IEP) which will have been devised by parents, SENCO, key person and BECO (if their involvement is beneficial). This is usually implemented in small group time daily, or one -to- one to fit the individual needs of your child. We will liaise closely with outside agencies such as SALT, Portage, OT’s, EP’s etc, to ensure we are all working together on the same targets to support you and your child. The pre-school works closely with the Services for Young children Area Inclusion team.

We provide an environment in which all children are supported to reach their full potential. All children are respected and valued in a nurturing environment. We plan activities for the children covering their interests and ensuring we are supporting their developmental stage. The level of supervision and support will be differentiated based on the activity and the children involved and their needs. All of this ensures that every child is included and able to learn at their own level and pace.

All the staff are available to speak to at the beginning or end of every session, you are also able to book a time that is convient for you to discuss your child’s progress. IEP’s or behavioural plans are regularly reviewed with you, key person, SENCO and other professionals involved in your child’s development .The key person completes termly reviews with which you are asked to write your comments about your child’s progress in the pre-school and at home. All this information is collated in your child’s learning journey, which is a record of their progress. If you wish to have a more formal chat this can be arranged. We offer twice yearly progress meetings to all parents. As part of us working together, we offer parent workshops, developing your skills as parents. The pre-school offer a parents/carers rota you are always welcome in the pre-school, this would give you an insight into the running of the session. External agencies involved with your child are able to visit the pre-school to observe or work with them. The pre-school operates a home link book were necessary. To help your child’s development your key person would suggest activities for home and can supply equipment where needed. As part of our parent link we provide regular activities for home.

All staff are responsible for ensuring your child is safe and secure, both emotionally and physically. Behaviour plans are put in place as required, visual warnings and sand timers are used when needed. All staff are trained in paediatric first aid and are CRB checked and have attended safe guarding training. We have a designated health and safety officer. All staff attend meeting where they are updated to any changes in all areas. We can meet dietary needs and medical needs. If a child needed support that we were not trained to give we would ensure the staff would attend the appropriate courses. We value the child’s opinions and they contribute to their learning and development. To do this we observe them showing their opinions through their behaviour and actions. As a child gets older they are able to verbalise and we ensure we take their opinions into account when planning activities and IEP’s or behaviour plans.

Once we have discussed with you and collated information of your child’s needs , we will create a ‘Team around the child’. This would be by liaising with our Area SENCO and accessing all outside agencies. The pre-school have two trained SENCO’s who have a vast experience in all aspects of additional needs, working with Health visitors, Outreach services, Area Inclusion Team, speech and language therapist, portage, occupational therapist, behaviourist and Educational Psychologists.

All the members of staff have wealth of knowledge and experience and continually update their knowledge. Two members at level 4,the remaining at level 3 child care and education. The staff have attended Makaton training, which the children and staff use on a daily basis. The SENCO’s attend termly SENCO training covering all aspects of additional needs. Staff have attended ‘letters and sounds’ focus group which is used daily with small groups.

>All outings undertaken by the pre-school are within are local area. A risk assessment is carried out prior to any trips, taking into consideration all children’s needs and will be adapted where needed. Staff ratios are adapted accordingly for all trips.

The pre-school is in a community building that has wheel chair and buggy access. We have access to a toilet for the disabled and nappy changing facilities. The pre-school is in one large room all on one level. Our outside area is accessible to all. If English is your second language we can work with the Ethnic Minorities and Travellers Achievement Service (EMTAS), who help with translation of information for parents.

As a pre-school we encourage parents to visit during the weeks before an admission is planned. We have flexible admission procedures, of appropriate form, to meet the needs of individual families and children. We make it clear to families that they will be supported in the pre-school for as long as it takes to settle their child. When possible we stagger introduction to pre-school, that is two new children a week. We want children to feel safe and happy in the absence their parents. Children cannot play and learn successfully if they are anxious and unhappy. The pre-school visit the main feeder school on a regular basis, this helps the children to become familiar with the school environment. As part of the transition process the teachers from the receiving schools visit the pre-school to meet the children. Visits are arranged for the children to go with staff to play at their feeder school. For children requiring extra support to access their local main stream school an Inclusion Partnership Agreement (IPA) is set up in collaboration with the pre-school, feeder school and parents to ensure the transition is as smooth as possible. Photographs of their new schools are in an album in the pre-school library. Also in the role play area we have school uniforms available. We encourage children to share news of their school visits.

Additional funding can be claimed for children with special educational needs (SEN).This is decided upon through consultation with all who are involved with the child at a ‘Team Around the Child ‘(TAC) meeting. The funding is allocated to enable the child to achieve their full potential, possibly one-to-one support, specialist equipment and appropriate toys to aid development.

All children will need different types and levels of support so this will be based solely on your child’s needs. We will monitor how well the support we have put in place is helping your child and the progress they are making through regular observations, reviewing targets on IEPs and looking at how they are achieving on their developmental milestones. If your child has already had a diagnosis then a TAC meeting will be held before they start pre-school. All decisions are made through consultation with all parties involved. If your child has no diagnosis but you expressed concerns or the key person has identified a concern at the two year old check, then a meeting will be held with you to explore ways of supporting your child.

The pre-school welcome input from parents giving them the opportunity to contribute from their own skills, knowledge and interests to the activities of the group. We encourage parents to join our workshops to learn about the pre-school curriculum and about young children’s learning. Parents are involved in shared record keeping, termly reviews, Record of Development and also home scrap books. We have social occasions such as charity mornings, celebrations where the children sing and perform. We survey all parents to find out their views of aspects of pre-school life. We value parent’s input and regularly ask for their opinion when making changes.